Stuart Pearce feels there is no better example of David Moyes’ man-management and tactical acumen than Marko Arnautovic’s superb spell leading the line for Premier League stalwarts West Ham United.
For a time, the Austrian international’s reputation preceded him.
When someone like Jose Mourinho is calling you ‘unmanageable’ – as he did while working with Marko Arnautovic at Inter Milan – well, that sort of tag can be difficult to shake.
So as former West Ham United defender and assistant coach Stuart Pearce explains, he had a preconceived notion of what to expect when joining forces with the £20 million signing back in November 2017.
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Pearce joined David Moyes’ coaching staff at the London Stadium a few months after Arnautovic had arrived from Stoke City. But instead of finding a moody, inconsistent attacker with a penchant for flying off the handle, the England legend got to know an articulate, multi-lingual centre-forward who would go on to break double figures in both of his Premier League campaigns in claret and blue.
Stuart Pearce admits he was wrong about former West Ham United favourite Marko Arnautovic
Of course, no story about Marko Arnautovic is ever complete without some controversy. The way he forced a move to the Chinese Super League in 2019 will forever taint his legacy, Dimitri Payet-style, in the eyes of some supporters.
Yet, suggestions that West Ham actually tried to bring Arnautovic back to East London on more than one occasion – Sky Italia claim that the ex-Bologna and Werder Bremen ace was offered a return as recently as 12 months ago – speaks to how difficult his old employers have found landing themselves an adequate replacement.
Nuno Espirito Santo will now be praying that Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos can fill a long-vacant, Arnautovic-shaped void.
“It’s just understanding individuals, you know? One size doesn’t fit all,” Pearce tells the Ironcast podcast. “You can’t say certain things to certain players. You’ve got to pick your players and get to know them. I found that out in my time.
“I had a perception, let’s just say, when I came in here the first time to coach with David Moyes, I had a perception of what Marko Arnautovic was like. I thought to myself, ‘The first thing I’ve got to do when I walk through the door is talk to him and get to know Marko’.
“I sat him down, and the perception I had of him as a player compared to once I got to know him was so different. You know, this is a young man who could speak seven languages. You sit and talk to him, and those preconceived ideas of what you think someone is like [change]. It’s not until you sit down with them and really get to know them that you can understand how to motivate them and that type of thing.”
David Moyes transformed Arnautovic into a number nine
Pearce credits Moyes with taking the rough with the smooth, while also altering Arnautovic’s role on the field. As a result, that 2017/18 season would end up being the third-most prolific campaign of his club career, and arguably his most complete performance-wise.
“A big [factor in his impressive form] was a change of position,” adds Pearce, who was also part of Moyes’ staff during the 2023 Conference League triumph.
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“So at Stoke, in the main, he was playing on the flank. He played as a centre-forward [with us]. And with Marko, you’ve got to understand him a little bit. This is where Dave was so good as a manager.
“He moved his position into a spot where we needed a centre-forward at the time. And from there, I think he empowered Marko to make him feel as if he was the top dog and the top man, and I think he thrived in that environment. You know what it’s like yourself; you think the manager’s got confidence in you.
“Correct me if I’m wrong on this, but he’s one of the few players, when Dave left for the first time, that actually rang Dave up and said, ‘Thanks for what you’ve done’.”
“I already watched him when he was at Stoke and I was like, ‘there’s a good player there’. You could see it,” agrees Carlton Cole, one of the many strikers who came before Arnautovic at West Ham. “But he was playing off the flanks and I had never seen him down the middle.
“So when he came here, he kind of reinvented himself almost. I could see the player that I used to see, but an improved one that understood the game; bringing players into the game and scoring goals. And that was the main thing.
“He was an amazing asset to have at the club at the time.”
The well-travelled veteran is still going strong aged 36.
Arnautovic scored his first-ever Europa League goal after joining Red Star Belgrade following the expiry of his Inter Milan contract. Arnautovic is Austria’s all-time record goalscorer now, too, with a World Cup run a fitting way to end a storied career.
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